diktat

PRONUNCIATION:

(dik-TAT)

MEANING:

noun:
1. An order or decree imposed without popular consent.
2. A harsh settlement imposed upon a defeated party.

ETYMOLOGY:

From German Diktat (command, order, dictation), from Latin dictatum (something
dictated), from dictare (to dictate), frequentative of dicere (to say).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root deik- (to show, to pronounce
solemnly), which is also the source of words such as judge, verdict,
vendetta, revenge, indicate, dictate, paradigm,
interdict, and
fatidic. Earliest documented use:
1922, in reference to the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, by Germany.

USAGE:

"Public participation in politics [in China] may not yet be approaching
the raucousness in India, but it is equally incorrect to view the
Chinese as obedient zombies silently following the State's every diktat."
Cultural Evolution; Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India); Dec 19, 2010.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life. -Albert Camus, writer, philosopher, Nobel laureate (1913-1960)